As Portland Hits 100 Degrees, Forecasters Say the Heat Wave Could Extend Well Into the Weekend

If the forecast plays out as expected, this week’s heat wave will tie Portland International Airport’s longest streak of 95 degrees or higher.

BE COOL: A jog along the Eastbank Esplanade. (Brian Burk)
By Ethan Johanson

This afternoon, Portland crested 100 degrees for the first time in 2022. It’s unlikely to be the last.

As of 4:07 pm, the National Weather Service’s temperature gauge at the west end of the Fremont Bridge registered 101 degrees. Portland International Airport hit triple digits just three minutes later. NWS meteorologist Colby Neuman said today’s highest temperature was expected to occur between 4:30 and 5:30 pm.

There’s a chance that today brought this week’s hottest temperatures, but meteorologists now expect the heat wave to remain unabated through Saturday, approaching a Portland record for the most consecutive days of 95 degrees Fahrenheit or higher.

“The main story is that confidence has increased that it will remain hot by western Washington and western Oregon standards through Friday,” Neuman wrote this afternoon.

While a 1- to 3-degree temperature dip is expected for Wednesday, the odds of hitting triple digits Thursday and Friday are about the same as they are for Tuesday. If the forecast plays out as expected, this week’s heat wave will tie the Portland airport’s longest streak of 95 degrees or higher, Neuman says.

The current record is six days, achieved in the summers of 1941 and 1981. Temperature readings of 95 degrees or above at the airport through Saturday would tie the record. (The projected high for Saturday is 98 degrees, according to Neuman.)

There’s a chance the record could be broken, but Neuman says there’s a no greater than 40% chance that temperatures will exceed 95 degrees at the airport on Sunday. The National Weather Service’s latest forecast discussion states that Portland’s Sunday highs will likely dip to the upper 80s and continue to trend downward on Monday.

After issuing emergency declarations last Sunday, Multnomah County and the city of Portland announced the locations of five cooling centers that opened today. This interactive map shows where else you can escape from the heat.

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